A/N: I have to work Valentine's Day so here's an early Valentine's Day fic from me. Davush fluff/angst makes me happy on the inside. I love this pairing so much.
Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies (although it's called fanfiction so I highly doubt that anyone who writes it owns it). And I also don't own Elton John or his albums or songs. Ditto with Yes and the mention of Skynyrd.
--
It was New Year's Eve. Jack had stolen champagne from his parents' party in the house over; whole bottles. They sipped the bubbly liquid through neon colored straws and listened to 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' on David's mother Esther's old LP player.
Jack and Blink were mashed together on the bed, studying the album and looking for dirty pictures. David sat in the windowsill, clutching his bottle of champagne and looking across the snow-covered lawn and the redwood fence to Jack's house where their parents were. Loud music and boisterous voices floated towards him, almost ruffling his curls. He wondered if he touched the wire of electricity strung between their houses on two poles, if he would die. He wondered if his mother confused her clothing line for it sometimes and if his clothes would burn.
A cold wind blew through the window but David didn't move. He was wrapped in a thick sweater and the champagne warmed him.
Every one of them felt so sophisticated for a bunch of twelve-year-olds, listening to adult music and drinking champagne.
"My favorite's 'Candle in the Wind'," a voice said behind him, quietly.
He saw Mush sitting cross-legged on the floor, listening to the player. David nodded.
"It's about Marilyn Monroe," he told him.
"Who?"
"She was an actress. She died."
"Oh." He glanced down into his bottle and suckled slightly on the bright orange straw before looking back up at David. "You sure know a lot."
He shrugged and sipped his own champagne. "I guess."
David liked the idea of someone finding him smart. Mush never really spoke much on his own. Usually he just giggled and repeated jokes that Jack had just said or asked questions. He wasn't too bright but he was sweet and seemed to think David was smart. He felt almost mature and drank some champagne without his straw. He coughed and retched as it burned down his throat. Maybe mature wasn't best.
"You alright?" Mush asked, eyes large with worry.
"Yeah," he assured him.
He looked as though he were about to say something else when a loud giggle erupted from the bed.
"I think I found one!" Blink crowed.
They turned to look at the convulsing blonde, their moment over.
--
It was the Fourth of July. The throaty chirping of cicadas could be heard from outside the open window. Jack had stolen beer, large Sapporo's that dripped pearls of condensation on their hands. Their fingers were wet, cold and raw from ripping open the bottles but they felt strong and manly with their beers. There were no straws this time; they were fifteen now and much too old.
While their parents partied on Jack's lawn, they sat once more in David's room, listening to 'The Yes Album' and drinking. Jack was wearing his dad's old Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt because he said it made him look tough. He and Blink were getting high on David's bed while he and Mush had their usual stations: windowsill and floor.
The night smelled thick and sweet; filled with possibilities. The smoke from the pot wafted over and he breathed in the earthy aroma.
"I've seen all good people," Mush sang softly, holding his beer in two, shivering hands. "…so satisfied I'm on my way."
David closed his eyes and rested his head on the windowpane. Mush's voice was sweeter than honey. It was almost beautiful. He took a swig of beer.
"Oi!" a loud, angry voice, broke through the music and pot haze.
David looked down to see a boy with honey colored hair and icy blue eyes leering up at him.
"Shut up, leprechaun!" he shouted back.
Spot put his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts and grinned. His grin was like a cat's, David decided. Predatory and sleek. He found himself smiling back.
"Come on down, Jew-face!"
David looked at the power pole next to his window and then back at Spot. He glanced in the room. Jack and Blink were toking on their joints and Mush still sang softly.
"Don't surround yourself with yourself/Move on two black squares…" his voice sounded almost choked now, tearful.
David handed him his Sapporo. "Give it to Jack or Blink."
He grabbed onto the handholds on the pole and went down. Spot caught him in his arms even though he was shorter than he was.
"Let's go," David breathed into his warm neck.
That night, they had sex in the backseat of Spot's mother's SUV. The next day, Mush couldn't look him in the eye.
--
It was Halloween. The pitter-patter of little feet could be heard as young kids ran up and down the broad, tree-lined streets. There was a party on Jack's lawn but there were just the kids there; high schoolers now.
Jack and Blink were getting high in a corner of the yard, sharing a joint like an unprofessed kiss. Mush walked around, drinking something amber from a bottle. Up in Jack's room, David and Spot were having sex.
Wind rattled the plastic skeletons that hung from the large trees, sent crunchy brown leaves skittering across the brown lawns and pavement. Mush was a Day of the Dead skeleton, painting around his eyes with emerald green paint. Other than that, there was nothing differentiating him between a regular skeleton but he felt that he had a certain spirit that made him look like a festive one.
He sat at the base of the Oak tree and drank his liquor, feeling miserable. Imagining Spot up there, making love to David like they had been for the past two years.
He squeezed his eyes shut, picturing his nerves chattering from the plastic skeletons. He had plastic skeleton nerves but only around David.
"Come smoke with us, Mush!" Blink called over jovially.
He rose and walked towards them, clutching his glass. He sat between them and Jack and Blink immediately smacked over him, sharing their joint. They were so close that Mush couldn't breathe. He needed to get away. He needed air.
--
It was Valentine's Day. The same day as Mush's birthday. He was eighteen. Cards were passed, candy exchanged. Blink gave Jack a chocolate heart filled with raspberry mousse. Everyone called them gay. Jack punched anyone who said anything. Mush wanted to get something for David but he said that Valentine's Day was 'crass, commercial bullshit' and Spot agreed. They didn't exchange gifts.
David was smart, he knew. He could take words and make them say exactly what he wanted them to say. Big words too. Spot used them sometimes, too, but they were mean. Maybe they were right for each other. They were both so smart.
He sighed. Jack and Blink were sharing the heart. Anthony Higgins made a kissy face at them. Jack got up and clocked him in the jaw.
The principal came and dragged Jack off and Blink followed him. Mush was left alone.
"Hello."
David.
He gave a small smile but didn't look up. Spot was with him, drinking something from a water bottle that smelled too much to be water.
"Get something for your girlfriend?" David asked in a polite voice.
"No."
"How come?" Spot sneered. It was a regular question but somehow he sneered it.
"I don't got one."
They left him alone. Mush turned around and punched the brick wall of the school. His knuckles started to bleed.
Red. The color of Valentine's Day. The color of love.
--
It was Graduation Day. David spoke as Valedictorian. There was a party on Jack's lawn but the four of them went up to David's room with 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and stolen Bacardi.
David was oddly quiet. He and Spot had broken up. Mush sat on the carpet near the player, drinking his Bacardi and watching him watch Spot at the party next door. Jack and Blink were curled in each other's arms, kissing and touching and moaning.
Mush got up and leaned on the spare three inches or so of free sill, kneeling on the carpet.
"Your favorite is 'Candle in the Wind'," David said quietly.
Mush whipped his head up at him. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"You told me. A long time ago."
"Right…" he blushed at having forgotten. "I'm sorry…about you and Spot."
He shrugged. "I knew it wouldn't last."
He sounded wistful and older than eighteen. He sipped his drink from the bottle and brought it to rest between his legs.
Mush turned around and rested his back on the wall beneath the sill. He started to sing softly.
"And it seems to me you live your life/like a candle in the wind," he sang. "Never knowing who to cling to/when the rain set in—"
"You have a nice voice."
Mush looked up to see David's blue eyes staring at him intently. He blushed.
"Thanks…I guess I never noticed."
"It's really nice to listen to."
Mush shrugged but then he remembered something else.
"The next day…" he said quietly. "After you told me about the song, I went out and rented The Seven Year Itch. She was really pretty."
"She was. Jayne Mansfield was prettier though."
He nodded like he knew what he was saying. David got down off of the sill and sat next to them. Their knees knocked together slightly and Mush inhaled a sharp breath.
"You're my candle," he blurted without meaning to.
He looked at him oddly. "What?"
"You're my candle," he repeated sheepishly. "I…"
He needn't have said more. David leaned in and kissed him.
--
It was a Wedding Day. Jack and Blink couldn't have looked happier. Boston in autumn was so nice. At the ceremony, Mush and David held hands under the table and smiled. When a slow song came on, they danced together. Jack made sure they played 'Candle in the Wind' because Mush had asked him to and Jack was a closet romantic.
Spot was at the wedding. He came up to David with that predator look he always wore, grinning like a cat. Mush wanted to hold him, run off with him away from there but he didn't. Instead, he let David get up and follow him out onto the dance floor for a dance. He let them talk privately at a table. He let them share a piece of cake.
He walked in on them in the bathroom. The next day, he couldn't look him in the eye.
--
It was Valentine's Day. Four months since the wedding. Mush's nineteenth birthday. He bought himself Thai and sat alone in his apartment, eating it. He hadn't been accepted to any colleges so he used to wait tables while he waited for David to get off of work but he lost his job after he found that he couldn't get out of bed.
He ate alone on the bare floor of their apartment—now only his—and ate by the light of a single candle. He sang 'Happy Birthday' to himself softly. On the last 'to me', tears caught him and he started to cry. Tears dripped onto the thick cubes of tofu in his salad and still he cried. He kept crying when he heard the door open.
"And I would have liked to know you," the voice sang in a cracked voice that sounded like a piece of broken jewelry. "But I was just a kid."
Through his tears, he turned to see David standing in the doorway. David who called Valentine's Day 'crass, commercial bullshit' was standing in the doorway, holding a bouquet of red roses. David who broke his heart twice with the same boy.
"Mush," he said quietly. "My candle. I love you. I fucked up. I'm sorry."
And it was because of Valentine's Day and his birthday and the tears and song and the roses and that David was David and he loved him. That was why he forgave him. He jumped up and ran to him, throwing his arms around his neck. David kissed him tenderly and awkwardly handed him the roses.
"Happy Birthday, Mush," he said into his curls.
"Happy Valentine's Day, David," he whispered into his ear.